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Sunday, June 8, 2014

Sharing a layout - This is Awesome!

To go along with this past week's podcast of "No kids, no pets, no husband," I thought I'd share a date night layout. You might remember that I shared these pics back in April not long after we visited The Flying Saucer in Nashville. Well, here's the layout using those pics. Hope you enjoy!

My starting point for this layout was the focal point picture. I'd had it enlarged and knew I wanted to feature it prominently. I thought blue would be a good starting point since he's wearing a blue shirt and I have on a blue patterned dress. I began by pulling out a bunch of blue patterned paper and just playing with it. I thought the graphic design I settled on had a fun vibe that echoed the feel of the bar and the pictures. The background paper on the left is old American Crafts and the orange chevron on the right is more recent Echo Park "Walk in the Park." It took me a long time to feel comfortable using two different patterned papers as background on a two page spread, but now I can't imagine doing it any other way. To unify the left and right pages, I extended a solid block of blue and a subtle patterned yellow strip across both pages. I also tried to create a sense of balance between the left and right pages to help unify them.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to use as a title, so I played around with that a little bit. I ended up using the 3 X 4 PL card as the title, but I could've just as easily used the drink coaster or the embellishment on the bottom card as the title. That's really just a matter of personal preference. I absolutely love incorporating PL style cards in regular scrapbook layouts; it's a good thing because I have a TON of them!

To create a sense of unity, I also used a PL journal card on the right side of the layout. It gives just the basics, but that's okay. I'm not sure my date wants me waxing poetic about our love life on the internet, so this journaling isn't mushy. If I want to get mushy in a future layout, I'll probably hide that journaling so it's not out there for the entire world to see. Ya feel me on that?

Notice that there are basically three embellishment groupings that form a visual triangle. The bottom left of the left page is a subtle nod to the fact that this was a date, and I really like this fella. (Heart, anyone?) The grouping on the top right of the left page pulls your eye to the focal point photo and allowed me to layer some ticket style embellishments. (Again, subtle reinforcement of our connection...) And the bottom right embellishments on the right hand page were a small nod to the alcohol (mason jar and beer? maybe?and how much fun we had.

I'm really pleased with this layout. It came together quickly and just felt right to me. That's usually a good sign for me when I'm scrapbooking. What layouts have you done about date night with your spouse, your girlfriends, or your significant other? I'd love to see some of them!

I have kids, a pet and a husband but still liked the podcast because I'm trying to scrap less about the kids, pet and husband and more about good old me. I like your layout, I need to learn how to photograph food, my pictures make the food look awful.